Being Salty

CoffeeZilla

    Hi everybody! 

I'm about to experiment with rock salt and the effectiveness of it as weed killer. There are a few areas on the lot that we never want weeds EVER, and as it's less dangerous than Round-up and other chemicals, and supposedly has a lifespan of 5 - 10 years, it will be cost effective too.

I'm trying it on a small area before we implement it for regular use. I've read that it'll take about 3 applications, barely using a box of rock salt at a solution of 1 cup of salt per 1 gallon of water. After that I hope to only use tiny maintenance amounts for 10 years until I need to use another box or two. My lot is small, only about 260-ish units and parking spots, with some commercial tenants in an upper parking lot as well.

Have any of you used this method before? If so, How many boxes of rock salt would you say could cover 1/2 an acre? Most of the major areas have new pavement, and we don't get a lot of weeds. I got this idea because I'm a history nerd; lots of random historical facts that i find interesting, but actually pays off occasionally. 

I will update this thread with my progress.

Orkocean

Doesn't even need to be rock salt. I've used the salt/water/dawn soap method for years. Much cheaper and better than chemicals.

CoffeeZilla

Orkocean said:

Doesn't even need to be rock salt. I've used the salt/water/dawn soap method for years. Much cheaper and better than chemicals.

Thanks! I'll try that! 

JEFFRY

@Orkocean what is the ratio that you use? and how often?

Faye

I don't even mix with water, rain will take care of that part. I just use a rake and spread it in the area I need to kill those nasty weeds.

CoffeeZilla

JEFFRY said:

@Orkocean what is the ratio that you use? and how often?

I've heard it's a 1 cup to 1 gallon of water. We're trying it today.

 Also Orkocean said:

...used the salt/water/dawn soap method ...

What does dawn do?

AKKathie

@CoffeeZilla   Dawn breaks down the outer protective layer so the salt can get into the plant.

CoffeeZilla

How much Dawn do I use per gallon of water? Is there a formula you use to mix them?

GM_SJ_BSS

Orkocean said:

Doesn't even need to be rock salt. I've used the salt/water/dawn soap method for years. Much cheaper and better than chemicals.

Oh wow, can't wait to try this.  You said doesn't have to be rock salt, hate to sound like a dumdum but are you using regular table salt?  I love dawn, that stuff is good for soooo many diy projects....

Orkocean

sorry not getting much time to check on forums lately thanks to a new sight we took over in oregon thats just fulllllll of surprises! I honestly don't remember the ratio exacts as I havnt had to do it in some time but a quick Google search would probably give it. I had a 4 gallon backpack sprayer and I would fill it with 4 gallons of vinegar. Id buy the blue round containers of salt from wally world that a a bit bigger than a typical soup can size. I wanna say I put a couple containers of salt in to the 4 gallon but could be wrong and thrn just squeezed some dawn in, no exact measurement.

CoffeeZilla

So what I'm seeing online is 1 cup of salt(any kind) and 8 drops of Dawn (optional for really stubborn areas) to 1 gallon of water should be the least expensive option. I also found some pool salt 40 lb. bag for around $6 at Academy Sports. Should be as close to a permanent solution to weeds is what I'm looking for if i double up on the salt. There's a tree on one side, and I don't know if we want to keep it, so over there I might use the vinegar and dawn option.

On the first area we tried just 1 cup rock/icecream salt to 1 gal water, and saw results the first 2 days, and things are DEAD there now. I still see a few pop-up weeds, so we will do another maintenance round of killing until we see no more growth.

On the second area, there are definitely some larger weeds that have hung on, so I'll double the salt and use a small squirt of Dawn on that next.

Thanks everyone and more updates on the way!

CoffeeZilla

Orkocean said:

sorry not getting much time to check on forums lately thanks to a new sight we took over in oregon thats just fulllllll of surprises! 

My current site as well still has "surprises" from the previous manager. I took over my site the week of April Fools, if that tells you anything LOL I totally understand, and I really appreciate your feedback when you can send it!